Friday, June 16, 2017

Pandora CEO Tim Westergren Could Be On His Way Out

SiriusXM’s parent company, Liberty Media, may be taking a harsh view of Tim Westergren. The founder and CEO has been accused of costing the company over $1 billion, according to Digital Music News.

It’s been a rocky period for Pandora’s founder and CEO Tim Westergren. A recent study has shown that in the past year alone, teenagers and young adults have started abandoning the service. After starting his second tenure as CEO last year, active listener numbers fell year-over-year.

Tim Westergren

Tim Westergren’s refusal to sell Pandora to SiriusXM’s parent company at $15 per share may have cost the company $1.5 billion dollars. The streamer also recently sold music ticketing pioneer service Ticketfly for $200 million. It had acquired the service for approximately $450 million.

Following a 19% minority stake investment in the streamer, Pandora Radio’s stock has hit 4-year lows. Now, the company may actually dismiss the guy who started the whole thing.

According to BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield, Westergren has made just too many mistakes at the streamer.

“Pandora’s mistakes are simply too large to ignore and ultimately the mistakes point to one person, founder and current CEO, Tim Westergren.”

Pointing to Pandora’s failure in launching their premium streaming product ahead of their competition, Greenfield added,

Greenfield explained that Pandora’s current efforts to get back into the streaming market may come too late. He also explained that Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei may end up as Pandora’s chairman. If this happens, Maffei may give Westergren the ax.